1982 (#12) - Brooks' custody assignment to Lucas and Lance's departure

After a few days away from Genoa City, where he had the opportunity to reflect and recharge his batteries, a motivated and willing Lance returns, unaware that Victor is the new president of Prentiss. In fact, Lance intends to concentrate everything on his work at Prentiss and to undermine Victor in order to become its new president. He then intends to claim rights on little Brooks and raise him, perhaps together with his birth mother Leslie, since he no longer wants to deal with Lorie. However, his disappointment with the woman turns into anger and dizziness when a distraught Lorie confesses to him that she has been tricked and ruthlessly cheated by that double-crosser who is Victor and that she has given him her share. Lance is furious one more time against the woman, now accused of having taken away his company. Lance seeks so much comfort in Leslie that, while feeling guilty towards Lorie, he decides that the time has come for her to finally live her life with her son and the father of her child. The family reunion, however, as has happened many times in the past, is once again hindered, this time by Lucas. Lucas, in fact, thanks to little Brooks has regained the joy of living and does not intend to give up on him, wanting to make an official request for the custody of the child, with or without Leslie. Lance, who currently holds joint custody with Lorie, thus intends to fight his brother for sole custody, since he is convinced of the inadequacy of Lorie to act as a mother to a child that is not hers. In the end, the judge, decisively evaluating Brooks' will, now a child and grown enough to be able to express himself clearly, grants Brooks' custody to Lucas, who is very happy that their relationship has become special for Brooks too. Sorry for the fact that Brooks considers as his only real father not him, but his brother Lucas, a demotivated Lance, without love, without his son or his company, decides to leave Genoa City forever to go to Paris. Before leaving, Lance swears to Victor that Prentiss Industries would one day return to him. Lucas, meanwhile, decides to devote himself to raising little Brooks, continuing to run Jona's.

1982 (#5) - Robert's defence, Leslie's testimony and Lorie's release

After the revelation of the letter revealing the truth about Brooks' paternity, Lorie's position in the process becomes much more critical. Lorie, at the suggestion of Stuart, decides to hire a new lawyer. Robert Laurence, Stuart's friend and acquaintance, is a young but successful lawyer who gladly accepts the difficult case of Vanessa Prentiss' death. Robert asks Leslie's cooperation to testify in Lorie's defense, but it doesn't help because they lack proofs. As promised, Leslie testifies in favour of her sister, telling everything about their difficult and often critical relationship; despite this, Leslie knows Lorie and is convinced that she is totally innocent, as she had to deal with a manipulator like Vanessa. The great work of Robert and the defense are reopening the trial. But Lorie's happiness is now compromised by the fact that Lance hasn't visited her since the day the truth about Brooks came out. However, Lorie's desperation is alleviated by Robert's behaviour, both during the trial sessions, with always very convincing arguments, and in private with the woman, where he assures her that he would not defend her if he did not believe her and did not trust her 100%. Robert's assurance triggers the passion between the two of them, who kiss furtively in prison without anyone seeing them. Lorie, meanwhile, begs Leslie to take little Brooks away from the trial and the woman reassures her sister that they are going to Switzerland for a short time. Before leaving, Lorie thanks her sister again, as she asks Lucas to look after Jona's, which was left empty after the boy told the woman he wanted to leave the city; giving Lucas a purpose, Leslie hopes the man can overcome his difficult time of depression after his mother's death. The trial, meanwhile, continues relentlessly and sees Lorie's position worsen when she finds herself forced to explain the money she received from Vanessa herself. At this point Lorie, also accused of threats and blackmail against the woman, seems to have no hope of being absolved. But as often happens, fate turns everything upside down in a short time. And, paradoxically, it is the man who is most disappointed by Lorie who exonerates her. The long-awaited and fateful evidence able to prove the defense's thesis, in fact, materializes thanks to Lance, who in fact finds in his mother's house some painkillers that specifically suggest that Vanessa had been affected by the disease and that she was now in a terminal phase, something confirmed by her doctor during a sworn testimony. Returning immediately from Switzerland for the verdict, Leslie goes to trial for a final hearing shortly before the judge withdraws for trial. It's little Brooks, in fact, Robert's last desperate card to play; after the agreement of the court to question the child, he reveals that he saw Lorie's typewriter used with Vanessa's gloves. It was at this point clear that Vanessa had planned the whole thing and to the great joy of Leslie, Lucas, Robert, Stuart and Lorie herself, the woman is declared innocent and released from prison.

1982 (#1) - Lorie's trial, Lance's proposal and the letter revealing the true paternity

Since the opening of the investigation, police suspicions for Vanessa's death have been directed towards Lorie, who is formally charged of killing her. The woman tries to declares herself innocent in vain, but is immediately taken to prison pending trial. A distraught Lance can't believe that Lorie would actually kill Vanessa. And when Lorie explains to Lance all the details of that great plan Vanessa conspired to keep them apart, Lance shows trusts her and reconfirms his confidence in the woman. And to prove it, he surprisingly shows her the ring he plans to give her once this whole thing is over, since he wants to marry her again and go back together to be husband and wife for the rest of their lives. Despite the hopes of the two lovers and their faith in the victory of justice, things seem to be going very differently, as the investigation seems to be going somewhere else and heading towards the murder charge against Lorie. As the trial begins, the prosecution does not believe a single word of Lorie and the jury itself seems perplexed by the woman's senseless story. Things for Lorie, then, get as she has ever thought when the prosecutor surprisingly pulls out Vanessa's diary, where there is a letter in which the whole truth about the paternity of little Brooks is told. Lucas and Leslie are shocked to learn that the prosecution is in possession of the document and Lorie, desperate, is forced to admit under oath that the letter tells the truth: Lance is Brooks' father. At the words, the man can't believe what Lorie has just confessed. The courtroom suddenly explodes into commotion, and suddenly all of Lance's beliefs collapse. Completely in shock, once he realises that Brooks is his son, Lance feels like a fool not to have understood it before. Lance also begins to doubt Lorie's innocence, in fact he suspect a motive for the murder, assuming that Lorie may have committed the crime fearing that Vanessa would reveal the truth.

1981 (#14) - Stuart's heart problems and Leslie's tour in Paris

After the divorce with Lorie and the failure to acquire shares in his family business, Lance is going through one of the darkest periods of his life. Leslie, feeling little bit guilty for having favoured the sale of Lucas' shares to Victor, gets very close to Lance, something that both Lucas, married to Leslie, and Lorie, still in love with Lance, are jealous of. Lucas, however, appreciates the ever-growing closeness of Lorie, with whom he is secretly in love, the girl is interested in him because she is determined to break off his marriage with Leslie, always trying to prevent the custody of Brooks assigned to Leslie, which his sister would strongly like to avoid. Leslie, meanwhile, is practicing more and more on the piano, and Master Fautsch is happy to see that Leslie seems to have regained her lost talent, so he decides to offer her a tour in Paris, which Leslie enthusiastically accepts. Lance, happy for the woman, agrees to accompany her in the scheduled concerts, since Lucas cannot be absent from Genoa City; this naturally makes Lorie jealous, who decides to come to Paris too in order to check on bot of them them and to meet a famous director interested in making a film based on her book. Before leaving, it occurs an event that upsets the Brooks family so muchrisks blowing up the trip: Stuart, in fact, discovers he has heart problems following a heart attack. Leslie doesn't want to leave, but her father encourages her to pursue her lifelong passion and decides with Liz to follow her to Paris to attend her performance. Katherine also decides to participate in the trip, interested in meeting some famous plastic surgeons.

1981 (#11) - The sale of shares, the pact with Vanessa and Lance and Lorie's divorce

The end of the separation between Lucas and Leslie, and thus the official renewal of their marriage, soon proved to be more problematic than expected. Leslie is almost exclusively interested in getting a pass for Brooks' custody, while Lucas doesn't hide the fact that he still has feelings for the only woman he's ever loved, Lorie. This one, meanwhile, is very concerned about the revival of the marriage between Leslie and Lucas, convinced that this is an important point in Leslie's favour for the custody of Brooks. In the meantime, it's the turbulent corporate affairs of Prentiss Industries that are complicating matters. Lucas, now more and more convinced of her inadequacy to run the family business, is convinced by Leslie to sell her shares, thus effectively leaving the company. On this point, however, Vanessa vetoes, determined not to let Lance back in as long as he remains married to Lorie. Lance's failure to acquire Lucas' shares would disappoint the man very much; Lorie knows this well, forced to suffer the ever-increasing tensions caused by Lance's nervousness, who senses Vanessa's willingness not to give them to him. In the end, Lorie, ready to do anything to make her husband happy, decides to make a drastic decision by asking Vanessa to allow Lance's return to society. The woman is inflexible, however, and the only condition is that she and Lance divorce. Lorie, tired of seeing Lance so suffering, finally accepts, asking a surprised Lance for a divorce without stating the reasons. Lance tries to oppose, but it's all in vain, since Lorie does everything she can to make her ex-husband hate her, even seducing his brother Lucas, in an attempt to end Leslie's marriage, so that the Leslie would be in trouble claiming for Brook's custody. But it is precisely this gesture that triggers Leslie's wrath, which once again changes the cards on the table: determined not to give Lance her husband Lucas' shares, so as to indirectly hit her sister Lorie, Leslie contacts Victor, who shows great interest in getting the share of Prentiss Industries. Lorie repeatedly begs her sister not to sell her shares to Victor and not to unfairly hurt Lance, also assuring her to give up her claims on Brooks in exchange for selling Lucas' shares to Lance. But it is all in vain; and so, surprising both Vanessa and Lance, it is Victor who takes over the company, provoking the rage of Lorie, who finds herself having put aside her own marriage for nothing: a sacrifice as painful as it is useless. Lance, completely dazed by the loss of everything he had, that is, his marriage to Lorie and his company, gets deeply depressed and seems to have no way out and lets himself go to alcohol and gambling, and starts accumulating a lot of debts.

1981 (#6) - The breakup of Casey and Lucas, bond with Leslie and rivalry with Jonas

With the possibility given by the judge to spend time with Brooks, Leslie tries to reestablish a relationship with the child without much success, since he does not seem to recognize her. But when Leslie plays a lullaby on the piano that she used to play for Brooks, it is clear that there is a very strong bond between them. Lance meanwhile reveals in a very delicate way to an astonished Leslie the reason why she had decided to leave the city before her memory loss: she had feelings for him. Feeling remorse and a sense of humiliation and shame, Leslie apologizes to Lorie for trying to meddle in her marriage, admitting that she cannot remember whether or not she had a clandestine relationship with the man. Lorie reassures her and reveals that she has never done anything she should regret: she then admits that things between her and Lance are not as good as they used to be and that this whole situation is creating stress and tension between the two of them. Leslie regrets it, but warns Lorie that she doesn't want to give up on Brooks. Meanwhile, one night, while she was sleeping with Brooks, Leslie falls down banging her head from on the bedside table; the trauma brings back memories of the night of passion with Lance when she conceived Brooks, and it is Master Fautsch who reveals that Lance is the real father of Brooks, fact that Lance ignores. Leslie, completely distraught from an emotional point of view, is informed that she is still formally married to Lucas and decides to make a very important decision for her, that is to give her marriage a new chance. Leslie thus informs Jonas that she wants to try to give her marriage to Lucas a new chance. Lucas has meanwhile ended her relationship with Casey.Lucas is happy with Leslie's decision not to end their relationship definitively, since she intends to honor her promise to God to the end; however, she soon finds herself in competition with Jonas, who has no intention of giving up his engagement to Leslie. Vanessa encourages Jonas not to give up and to fight for Leslie, rejecting the idea of a reconciliation between her and Lucas, since Leslie, in her thoughts, is destined to return with Lance, the couple she would have loved to see together. The rivalry between Jonas and Lucas for Leslie's love intensifies more and more, but in the end it is Leslie who interrupts the discussions by choosing to confirm her marriage to Lucas, since only by showing herself a caring wife could convince the court to give her the custody of Brooks.

1981 (#3) - Leslie's memory and the request with Jonas for the custody of Brooks

Determined to put her previous life in Genoa City behind her, including her career as a musician, Leslie, or rather Priscilla, convinces Jonas to close Jona's and leave the city. Soon, however, her mother's instincts are back in tune. In fact, when Brooks, during an argument between Lorie and Vanessa, falls down and is hospitalized, Leslie, miles away, wakes up from a nightmare, feeling inside herself that something has happened to her child. Leslie's fears materialise when she returns to Genoa City and finds Brooks in hospital. Luckily the baby recovers quickly, but it is clear that this was enough to trigger something in Leslie. In any case, before leaving Genoa City again, Leslie accidentally meets Maestro Fautsch at Vanessa's house, who convinces her to play the piano with him. Suddenly, her mind was persuaded and her fingers flew over the keyboard, as if she had never forgotten her career. This event led Leslie to wonder if one day she could bring out all her memories of her previous life, as these were evidently not erased but simply hidden deep in her mind. Leslie thus feels that her place is only Genoa City and she convinces herself to stay in the city, reopening Jona's immediately. As time goes by, the details of her previous life slowly begin to return to Leslie's mind, which is assured by Jonas that the man would help her claim her rights as the mother of little Brooks. Meanwhile, Lance and Lorie are quickly adapting to their parental role and are living really happy moments together; both of them are starting to consider Brooks as their son and they don't want to give him up. Precisely for this reason, the slow but progressive recovery of Leslie's memory worries Lorie, who is soon surprised by a request for custody of little Brooks by Leslie. Brought to court by her sister, Lorie, however, manages to obtain full custody of the child together with Lance, managing to convince the judge that she is the only mother Brooks has ever known. Leslie's disappointment, however, is mitigated by the fact that the court establishes, after Brook's psychiatric consultation that over time, the child would be able to handle the news that Leslie is his birth mother, thus allowing her to spend time with him.

1980 (#30) - Lance and Lorie gets the custody of Brooks

Some time after the shocking reunion between Lance and Priscilla, Jonas decides to get in touch with Lucas and arrange a meeting with Priscilla, or Leslie depending on what she wants to be called. Lucas thus has time and way to explain to Jonas and Priscilla all the events of their marriage and the birth of their son Brooks; Lucas carefully avoids telling Leslie about Brooks's fatherhood and is disappointed anyway when Leslie remembers nothing of the past. In a subsequent meeting with Lorie and Brooks, Leslie sadly admits that she has lost her memory. Upon learning the situation that Lucas is currently involved with Casey and that Lorie and Lance have welcomed the child into their marriage, Priscilla realizes that everyone has moved on with their lives anyway and that perhaps it is best for everyone that things continue as they are now. So Lorie and Lance manage to get full custody of Brooks from Leslie, since Leslie, or Priscilla, realizes that she cannot be a mother to a child she can't even remember giving birth. Jonas and Priscilla thus strengthen their union, just as Lance and Lorie formalize their family by legally welcoming little Brooks into the house; they all accept the events that fate has reserved for them.

1980 (#25) - Jonas' help in digging into Priscilla's past and the meeting with Lance

Returning from Santo Domingo, a radiant Lucas informs Stuart, Lorie and Lance that he has recognized a girl named Priscilla as their Leslie; he then says he is sure of the woman's identity, but she doesn't remember anything, or pretends to. Lucas and Lorie try to get in touch with the woman, and Lucas remembers Jonas's name, realizing that he is the owner of the club of the same name. Meanwhile, Priscilla intends to put the meeting with the mysterious man on the jet, who is in fact Lucas, behind her. The episode has however puzzled Jonas, who understands that the girl is hiding something. In the end, Priscilla admits she doesn't remember anything from her previous life and says she doesn't want to think about the past, but only about her present with Jonas, with whom she is increasingly in love. In fact, Piscilla has found joy and happiness in running Jona's with the man and has found great satisfaction in singing there in front of him; through music and the relationship with him, Priscilla has learned not to take life too seriously and therefore decides not to have any interest in knowing her past. However, when Priscilla's doctor informs her at a visit that it is clear that she recently had a baby, the woman changes her perspective from her past, and Jonas promises to help her in every way to remember her previous life, although this could potentially threaten their union and could mean losing her. Meanwhile, Lance goes to Jonas and is shocked to find the woman. Lance is carefully careful not to confess his identity, and when Priscilla shows that she neither recognizes nor remembers who he is, the man leaves convinced that their lives are now meant to be divided.

1980 (#15) - The hospitality of Lorie, the cohabitation with Lance, the collapse of Leslie

Happy and convinced more than ever of their love, Lance and Lorie, after the Parisian parenthesis and the awkward presence of Monique, live happy and serene moments. It is precisely Lorie's conviction that nothing could separate her from Lance, which convinces her to propose to the man the possibility of hosting Leslie and little Brooks in their home, convinced that her sister might need help now that she has separated from Lucas. Lorie then proposes to Leslie to come and live with them, so that she can raise Brooks in a family environment. Initially skeptical, Leslie refuses Lorie's help, but soon is convinced when Lorie reassures her that it's not a problem for Lance and that she wants to make herself useful for her sister. In the end, Leslie, whose feelings for Lance have never completely faded, accepts the invitation, intrigued by this new adventure. However the problems that this difficult cohabitation promises to bring out, comes into surface. Lorie shows jealousy of the understanding between Lance and Leslie, and invites her not to take advantage of the hospitality by trying to steal her husband; at the same time, Leslie feels increasingly uncomfortable with the presence of Lance, to whom she feels increasingly attracted, and begins to feel a sense of suffocation and stress that inevitably falls on the child. Leslie thus makes the decision to leave town and informs Lorie that she has decided to leave with Brooks so as not to cause problems to her marriage. Convinced that Lorie is happy about her sister's choice, Leslie is shocked when Lorie begins to insinuate that the baby should stay with her and Lance, Lance being the baby's father after all. At this point, Leslie is shocked to learn that Lorie is also aware of the truth, and runs away before suffering a sudden new mental breakdown.

1979 (#19) - The tensions with Lance and the separation between Leslie and Lucas

Back from Australia, a furious Lucas informs everyone that he has reconsidered the plan to send Lance to Paris and is convinced of the necessity of sending his brother to Santo Domingo, where there are major political and social tensions. Leslie is surprised by the sudden change in Lucas' decision, who defends his choice by justifying it with the need to maintain control in that strategic area for the company. Lance and Lorie, disappointed by Luca's sudden change and convinced that Lucas wants to take revenge in some way for their happiness compared to his marriage problems with Leslie, accuse him of being controlled by their mother Vanessa. The mother, however, assures everyone that the decision is entirely on the initiative of Lucas, obviously enraged by the alleged betrayal of his wife Leslie. By the other hand, Leslie can't understand her husband, not having betrayed Lance and not knowing about his presence in Australia. This episode, however, drives the couple away, despite the fact that in the end Lucas, at the very moment of Lance's departure for Santo Domingo, revokes his decision after Lorie's desperate request to reconsider. As a matter of fact Lance's doesn't leave, this fact however doesn't help the marriage between Lucas and Leslie, as the woman considers their marriage over. Despite the desire to give Brooks a father, in fact, Leslie realizes that she does not love Lucas, and that he feels the same way towards her; and convinced that a fake marriage cannot go on, she informs Lucas that she wants a separation. At the announcement, a still furious Lucas, convinced that Leslie is still in a clandestine relationship with Lance or that she wants to be with him anyway, reacts coldly to the news and accepts without resistance to initiate divorce proceedings.

1979 (#10) - Vanessa's decisions on Prentiss Industries and Lucas' presidency

The joy of Brooks' arrival certainly doesn't lessen tensions in the Prentiss house. As always, it is the manipulator Vanessa who is the director, who decides to play the card of her company in order to favour the divorce between Lorie and Lance. In fact, Lance has always aspired to be the president of Prentiss Industries and everyone recognizes that he is a great businessman and that he has an exceptional ability in the field. For this reason, everyone knows that it will be Lance the successor to Vanessa, as president of Prentiss Industries; and Lucas knows it too, who accepts this fact as a natural consequence of events, since after all he has been away from his family for years and has not contributed at all to the growth of the company; above all, he has never been interested in working a white-collar job. However, the arrival of a sudden marriage and a baby to take care of, as we know, change the situation; and when Vanessa decides to seize the opportunity to name Lucas as president of Prentiss Industries, he clearly shows his astonishment but does not seem disappointed. This decision leaves Lance shocked and disheartened, he cannot believe that their mother has decided to choose the youngest son who, by the way, has never been involved in the family business. And when Lorie comes out against Vanessa, accusing her trying to make her son suffer only to indirectly hurt her, Vanessa replies that the needs of a child, which they do not have yet, must prevail. Perhaps a legitimate motivation, if it were not Vanessa's: both women, in fact, know that Vanessa's intentions are only to create a gap in the marriage between Lorie and Lance, and to make the man realize that his marriage to the woman could damage him. In any case, very soon Lucas, even though he knows he doesn't deserve the job position, is persuaded by Vanessa and especially by Leslie that the opportunity offered to him doesn't happen every day and that it wouldn't be fair to refuse such an important position; after all, only by providing financial security to Brooks and Leslie he could hope to finally form a real family with them.

1979 (#6) - The birth of Brooks in Switzerland and Lucas' commitment to Leslie

While the Prentiss family is excited about the recent marriage between Lucas and Leslie, and the next birth of the child, the woman feels that she is under too much pressure. Lucas is worried about the woman's health and is convinced that time away from Genoa City, Lance and especially Vanessa can only be good for his wife, who in those circumstances can stay focused on her baby. It is the mentor Ernesto Fautsch, who came to visit Leslie, to propose the ideal solution for their needs; in fact, Ernesto, being very attached to Leslie, is happy to offer the couple his property in Switzerland, not far from that of the Prentiss, so that they can live in peace and serenity, and in complete anonymity, the next few weeks, the last weeks of the pregnancy. Lucas and Leslie, and especially the soon to be mom is determined to keep the secret from Lance, gladly accept, and without informing anyone about their final destination, greet Lorie, Lance and Vanessa, reassuring them that they will go to a place where they can live in peace the final days of the pregnancy. In Switzerland, indeed, Lucas and Leslie live really happy moments that allow them to finally find the complicity and intimacy necessary in a marriage; the two soon find themselves very close. After a few weeks, meanwhile, the moment of childbirth suddenly arrives and so Brooks Lucas Prentiss comes to life in the beautiful mountains of Switzerland. Leslie makes her husband so happy by giving the newborn his name, so that Brooks can also have a part of Lucas, even though he is not his biological father. Leslie, however, at this point is very clear telling Lucas that the baby is not an obligation for him; Leslie thus admits that she feels guilty for having put him in this situation, that is, to make assume him the role of father to a baby that is not his. The woman doesn't feel comfortable keeping Lucas next to them and therefore, informs him that he is free to go if he wants to. Lucas, however, confirms with all his heart that he wants to stay and to commit himself to raising a real family with Leslie, hoping that maybe one day the woman will love him as she loved Lance. The two of them kiss and after a few days they return to Genoa City, where a family anxiously awaits them and can't wait to welcome little Brooks.